Welp Here We Are Again (Wolves vs. Thunder)

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Man, if Jaden hadn't punched that wall, I'd actually be feeling pretty decent about our chances against Denver. What he did hurt us way more than what Kyle and Rudy did.

[Jester1534]

Josh Minott sighting you gotta love it

We want Denver baby let’s go!!!!

[Q-is-here]

Minott all over the place here!

[SameOldNudityDrew]

I'm surprised they waved the white flag so early.

[WildWolf2813]

x-Wolves!!!!!!!

[Q-is-here]

Well, that raises the floor of this season from disaster to disappointing.

[thedoper]

Edwards and NAW’s perimeter D was elite. We are a much more balanced team with Gobert.

[Phenom]

Edwards and NAW’s perimeter D was elite. We are a much more balanced team with Gobert.

Ant didn't have many chances at Shai but I thought he was outstanding when he did. Perhaps a silver lining of Ant's physical ailments is his more rounded game, ratcheting up his D for the whole game, emphasizing the boards and racking up blocks and steals.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Abe's Only Slightly Behind Than Real Time DVR Review:

- 58 to 30 advantage in paint scoring. OKC was just too small.

- The Thunder started two rookies (J Williams x2) and a 2nd year guy. It would have been a very bad loss for many reasons. Good to see the Wolves put in a professional win and shut the door on the young upstarts.

- Towns played very well. Interesting whistle tonight. OKC was obviously trying to draw offensive fouls. They didn't get them. Why do I get a feeling that those whistles were going the other way vs. other more prominent teams? He's also a target defensively for opposing teams behind the arc. We'll see how that goes moving forward.

- As noted by many, it doesn't seem like Edwards is right. There were multiple 1-on-1 situations where he slowed things down instead of attacking. He's missing pop. And his shot isn't right. But, he did a bit of everything to be effective tonight.

- Gobert and Anderson play well off each other.

- Walker-Alexander might have made himself some money tonight. Good intensity, effort, made just enough plays offensively.

- Conley is a pro's pro among pros who are professionals.

- The Wolves are running with a 7-man rotation. That's extremely dicey with Towns and foul trouble.

- They made the playoffs. Whew!

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Well, that raises the floor of this season from disaster to disappointing.

We needed that so badly after game 82 and the Laker game. If our season had ended tonight, think about how intense the criticism would have been and how badly that would poison our chemistry going into next year.

Rudy was a disappointment this year, especially early on, but he's played really well down the stretch and is unfairly viewed negatively for the trade that Connelly (not Rudy) was responsible for. Still, if our season would have ended tonight, a lot of people would have viewed Rudy's punch as the reason for it, and to some degree rightfully so.

KAT's disappearing acts down the stretch of games would have been scrutinized harshly as well, adding to his reputation as a great player who fades when it matters.

Ant's Laker game was horrific, and if we'd have lost tonight, people would certainly have questioned whether he is really the rising star people think he is.

If we'd have lost tonight, the bench incident would loom so heavily as the explanation in the public eye, there might be legit questions about whether to keep SloMo and that would be a big loss because he's been so good for us this year. Or, there might even be pressure to trade Rudy, which would be selling at a huge loss given his stock right now and probably also set our team back next year.

I think Jaden deserves more blame than any of those four guys because of the wall punch, and if we'd have lost these last couple of games, a lot of people could point to his absence against LeBron and SGA as the reason, which would have to breed resentment. I still think he's hurt us more than anything anybody else has done this year, and I'm frankly a bit concerned about him mentally. He's a great defender, but I have no sense for his personality because he's so withdrawn, and if we think that this kind of volatility might be something we can expect from him in the future, as insane as this sounds, it might make sense to trade him this summer while his stock has completely skyrocketed. Again, that's only IF the guys who know him think he's unstable and that there's a decent chance he does something in the future to derail his availability. But I do wonder about that, and that's the one thing that tonight's win can't really help wash away.


It still remains to be seen what happens with Denver. If we get swept and it's not even close, all of these concerns and pressures could come back. But I think we can make things interesting. For now, I think it's worth noting what a huge disaster a loss tonight would have been. We were on the precipice of a real catastrophe going into that game. That god we avoided it.